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Should I upgrade from a EFS 18-55mm to a Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM for landscapes? Using a Rebel T3i

Antonrides
Contributor

Only been doing Photography for about a year. Wife bought me a Rebel T3i Kit with two lenes. I'm really into outdoor Photography. I just upgraded myEFS 55-250 to a 100-400mm L series. I was going to buy a better lens for landscape and try to keep under a $1000. I'm thinking EF 17-40mm f/4L USM. Would it take better landscapes and/or is there a better choce in that price range Thanks

4 ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS

MikeSowsun
Authority
Authority

I would not recommend the EF 17-40mm for your T3i. The EF 17-40mm is really designed to be used as an Ultra-Wide lens on Full Frame cameras. One of it's major drawbacks is the lack of IS. (Image Stabilization) 

 

For a crop camera like the T3i I would recommend:

 

EF-S 18-55mm IS STM (very good upgrade to the 18-55 kit lens)

EF-S 18-135mm IS STM  

EF-S 15-85mm IS

EF-S 17-55mm 2.8 IS

 

EF-S 10-22mm (no IS, but Ultra-Wide)

Mike Sowsun

View solution in original post

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend

I am going to totally disagree with Mike's post above. I strongly recommend you keep your outfit essentially equal in quality.

Although you have a T3i the 17-40mm f4 will not only work, it will perform outstandingly. And it is an "L" lens to match the level of performance of your EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L.

 

There are no "L" lenses made for EF-S (Rebel mount) but the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens gets my full recommendation. Another great lens.

 

The EF 17-40mm f4 L has two great features as it is a constant f4 and it does not change it's shape while zooming. On a Rebel it acts like a 28-65mm f4 so it is not going to be as wide as the 10-22mm (16-35mm).

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

View solution in original post

ScottyP
Authority
You would not gain any width by getting the 17-40 lens. As Mike stated, the 17-40 is intended to be a wide angle lens for a Full Frame camera. On a T3i, it gives little. It has a sturdier build and (i think) has a little weather sealing, BUT since your camera is not weather sealed nor is it made of metal like a 5d3, that extra build quality is kind of wasted. Assuming it was width you are after, this would not be helpful.

I would suggest:
EF -s 10-22 if you want a wide angle lens for landscape
EF-s 17-55 f/2.8 if you want to get a much better walk around, general purpose lens to replace the 18-55.

The 17-55 Won't give you any significant increase in width, But it will give you a great improvement in image sharpness, and it gives you a constant wide f//2.8 aperture across the entire focal range. It lets 4x more light into the camera than your 18-55 can.

You gave no indication you want to get away from crop sensors and spend up to go full frame. And that is perfectly ok. Most people do not go full frame, and they still get excellent pictures. If you DID plan to replace all you EF-S crop lenses and change to a full frame camera, then I might say you would want the EF 17-40., because you could still use it on full frame.

I would invest in a good (not cheap) tripod for your landscapes/cityscapes. Since you are not shooting moving things, you can use long exposures to let all the light you need get into the camera. Use a 1 second, or a 30 second or longer slow shutter, and the camera can take pictures of things so dark you couldn't even see them with your eyes. A tripod lets you do it.

Good luck!
Scott

Canon 5d mk 4, Canon 6D, EF 70-200mm L f/2.8 IS mk2; EF 16-35 f/2.8 L mk. III; Sigma 35mm f/1.4 "Art" EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro; EF 85mm f/1.8; EF 1.4x extender mk. 3; EF 24-105 f/4 L; EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS; 3x Phottix Mitros+ speedlites

Why do so many people say "FER-tographer"? Do they take "fertographs"?

View solution in original post

amfoto1
Authority

Scott is right.

 

Generally speaking, for landscape photography we gravitate to wider angle lenses.

 

The 17-40mm is only 1mm wider than your current 18-55mm.... and you give up some reach on the telephoto end of the zoom. Sure, 17-40mm will work and probably work well, but you are paying extra (about $840 US) for a lens that gives full frame coverage, which your camera won't even use.

 

I've been working with IS lenses for over 12 years, currently use a half dozen or so with IS, and love it... But on a wide angle lens I really don't see the lack of IS as anything very significant. Sure, IS is always nice to have, but IMO not terribly necessary on lenses less than roughly 85mm or 100mm focal length.  

 

For all the above reasons, and because it offers quite high image quality and good performance across the board, I'd recommend the Canon EF-S 10-22mm USM. It will cost you about $640 US, plus another $34 for the lens hood that's sold separately.

 

Keep your 18-55mm for now, as your mid-range, walk-around zoom. Sometime in the future you might want to replace it with something better, such as an EF-S 17-55/2.8 IS USM ($880 plus hood).

 

An alternative, if it's wide enough for your purposes, is the EF-S 15-85mm IS USM ($800 plus $30 hood). This might serve in place of both the 10-22mm and 17-55mm... if 15mm is wide enough. That will be noticeably wider than your 18-55mm. The 15-85mm also offers top image quality and performance, plus IS. It also "closes the gap" with your 100-400mm a bit. What it doesn't have is a big aperture. It's an f3.5-5.6 lens, though that will likely be just fine for walk-around, daylight shooting. But not f2.8 for lower light situations, like the 17-55mm.

 

Have fun shopping!

 

***********
Alan Myers

San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & PRINTROOM 

 





 

View solution in original post

11 REPLIES 11

MikeSowsun
Authority
Authority

I would not recommend the EF 17-40mm for your T3i. The EF 17-40mm is really designed to be used as an Ultra-Wide lens on Full Frame cameras. One of it's major drawbacks is the lack of IS. (Image Stabilization) 

 

For a crop camera like the T3i I would recommend:

 

EF-S 18-55mm IS STM (very good upgrade to the 18-55 kit lens)

EF-S 18-135mm IS STM  

EF-S 15-85mm IS

EF-S 17-55mm 2.8 IS

 

EF-S 10-22mm (no IS, but Ultra-Wide)

Mike Sowsun

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend

I am going to totally disagree with Mike's post above. I strongly recommend you keep your outfit essentially equal in quality.

Although you have a T3i the 17-40mm f4 will not only work, it will perform outstandingly. And it is an "L" lens to match the level of performance of your EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L.

 

There are no "L" lenses made for EF-S (Rebel mount) but the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens gets my full recommendation. Another great lens.

 

The EF 17-40mm f4 L has two great features as it is a constant f4 and it does not change it's shape while zooming. On a Rebel it acts like a 28-65mm f4 so it is not going to be as wide as the 10-22mm (16-35mm).

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend

BTW, any of those lenses, mentioned above, would be an OK match to your 55-250mm.

An in addition, you can use the 17-40mm as your general purpose lens as well.

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

ScottyP
Authority
You would not gain any width by getting the 17-40 lens. As Mike stated, the 17-40 is intended to be a wide angle lens for a Full Frame camera. On a T3i, it gives little. It has a sturdier build and (i think) has a little weather sealing, BUT since your camera is not weather sealed nor is it made of metal like a 5d3, that extra build quality is kind of wasted. Assuming it was width you are after, this would not be helpful.

I would suggest:
EF -s 10-22 if you want a wide angle lens for landscape
EF-s 17-55 f/2.8 if you want to get a much better walk around, general purpose lens to replace the 18-55.

The 17-55 Won't give you any significant increase in width, But it will give you a great improvement in image sharpness, and it gives you a constant wide f//2.8 aperture across the entire focal range. It lets 4x more light into the camera than your 18-55 can.

You gave no indication you want to get away from crop sensors and spend up to go full frame. And that is perfectly ok. Most people do not go full frame, and they still get excellent pictures. If you DID plan to replace all you EF-S crop lenses and change to a full frame camera, then I might say you would want the EF 17-40., because you could still use it on full frame.

I would invest in a good (not cheap) tripod for your landscapes/cityscapes. Since you are not shooting moving things, you can use long exposures to let all the light you need get into the camera. Use a 1 second, or a 30 second or longer slow shutter, and the camera can take pictures of things so dark you couldn't even see them with your eyes. A tripod lets you do it.

Good luck!
Scott

Canon 5d mk 4, Canon 6D, EF 70-200mm L f/2.8 IS mk2; EF 16-35 f/2.8 L mk. III; Sigma 35mm f/1.4 "Art" EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro; EF 85mm f/1.8; EF 1.4x extender mk. 3; EF 24-105 f/4 L; EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS; 3x Phottix Mitros+ speedlites

Why do so many people say "FER-tographer"? Do they take "fertographs"?

amfoto1
Authority

Scott is right.

 

Generally speaking, for landscape photography we gravitate to wider angle lenses.

 

The 17-40mm is only 1mm wider than your current 18-55mm.... and you give up some reach on the telephoto end of the zoom. Sure, 17-40mm will work and probably work well, but you are paying extra (about $840 US) for a lens that gives full frame coverage, which your camera won't even use.

 

I've been working with IS lenses for over 12 years, currently use a half dozen or so with IS, and love it... But on a wide angle lens I really don't see the lack of IS as anything very significant. Sure, IS is always nice to have, but IMO not terribly necessary on lenses less than roughly 85mm or 100mm focal length.  

 

For all the above reasons, and because it offers quite high image quality and good performance across the board, I'd recommend the Canon EF-S 10-22mm USM. It will cost you about $640 US, plus another $34 for the lens hood that's sold separately.

 

Keep your 18-55mm for now, as your mid-range, walk-around zoom. Sometime in the future you might want to replace it with something better, such as an EF-S 17-55/2.8 IS USM ($880 plus hood).

 

An alternative, if it's wide enough for your purposes, is the EF-S 15-85mm IS USM ($800 plus $30 hood). This might serve in place of both the 10-22mm and 17-55mm... if 15mm is wide enough. That will be noticeably wider than your 18-55mm. The 15-85mm also offers top image quality and performance, plus IS. It also "closes the gap" with your 100-400mm a bit. What it doesn't have is a big aperture. It's an f3.5-5.6 lens, though that will likely be just fine for walk-around, daylight shooting. But not f2.8 for lower light situations, like the 17-55mm.

 

Have fun shopping!

 

***********
Alan Myers

San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & PRINTROOM 

 





 

Antonrides
Contributor

Thanks everyone. I'm new to all this and this sight. You all were a great help and I think I'll get the 10-22mm. After reading another post on this web sight I'm going to get rid of all my cheap filters too! Thanks again.

One nice thing about this site is you will get several different opinions and none are right or wrong. They are just the vast difference in people.

Now you must decide the course for you to take. The EF-S 10-22mm is a very fine choice and I am sure you will love it. Smiley Wink

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

Good for you. You will have a lot of fun shooting with a whole different focal perspective. I will repeat my suggestion you get a good tripod as the next thing after the lens.

Good luck!
Scott

Canon 5d mk 4, Canon 6D, EF 70-200mm L f/2.8 IS mk2; EF 16-35 f/2.8 L mk. III; Sigma 35mm f/1.4 "Art" EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro; EF 85mm f/1.8; EF 1.4x extender mk. 3; EF 24-105 f/4 L; EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS; 3x Phottix Mitros+ speedlites

Why do so many people say "FER-tographer"? Do they take "fertographs"?

Any suggestion on a good tripod? I know the one I have is awful shaky when I put my 100-400mm on it.

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